After interceptions on their first two drives – one of which was a pick-six – the Giants were still somehow in it at the end of the game in Chicago. But there was Eli to bookend the evening with a bad pick to close out the evening. On a drive to take the lead in the waning minutes of the 4th quarter, Eli nearly threw an interception on one pass before he had a throw go off the fingertips of a leaping Brandon Myers into the hands of Tim Jennings. Brad Nessler declaimed that it wasn’t Eli’s fault as soon as it happened because that’s a reflexive statement from an announcer. After the commercial break, he walked that statement back.

Can’t blame it on a lack of running game tonight. Brandon Jacobs went over 100 yards. This one was on Eli.

So, if the Giants end up being in a position to draft a franchise QB next year… they kind of have to at this point, right? I mean, it’s not even often that you get yourself into a position to draft a franchise QB without having to trade up. I’m not saying Eli is washed up, or a bad QB or anything. But when you can get someone 10 years younger with more upside, and likely unload Eli for additional picks at the same time, it seems like the right thing to do. Continuity at QB (and by this I mean transitioning from one good QB to another good QB, not just keeping one QB for a long time) seems like the best way to build an annual contender and avoid huge multi-year slump. Hell, look at the Pats, Colts, and Packers.

I mean, this draft is likely to be stacked at QB, but the Giants problems extend so far beyond that. They’ve let the offensive line get old and, in doing so, essentially rot because there were no replacements ready to step in. They’ve ignored the linebacker position for so long, which is why they get killed against teams with solid receiving tight ends (such as Dallas and Witten). The defensive line is also having a ton of problems creating pressure now. Basically there are holes all over the place…so with the likely Top 5 pick they’re headed towards, they have to decide what need makes the most sense to fill. My guess is they’d look at a non-QB position, so maybe they could do some sort of trade with a team focused on Bridgewater, etc.

And I completely agree with that too. They have needs, at basically everywhere but WR (and they’re not even super strong there). But you also have to take out of the equation the positions that you don’t really want to spend a 1st-round pick on (RB, TE, CB, etc.)

My point: Eli is going to be 33 at the end of this season. If he plays until he’s 40 (unlikely), he’s got seven more seasons. The truth is, Eli has never had a great season. He’s had good seasons, but never great. He’s only had better than a 2:1 TD:INT ratio once in his career, and he only threw 21 TDs that season. His highest completion rate for a whole season is only 62.9%, which isn’t that impressive in this era of QB play. Aside from his durability and the (important) fact that he’s won 2 Super Bowls, he’s actually kind of average.

If they build the team around Eli, they will likely find it very difficult to get a replacement QB when the time comes that they need one. Unless a mid-round draft pick or Ryan Nassib pan out (admittedly, he could, I’ve seen some good things in his tape), they could get stuck in a rut. You don’t want to be the team that has to trade up to take a *chance* at a QB. If you guess wrong (and the truth is, Reese has not been the best drafter), you’re out a lot of value. This is how teams fall into ruts, sometimes for over a decade.

True, and I don’t know what Geno will be yet, he could still be a bust or a franchise qb, or something in the middle. You think if they took a QB this year and dealt a 34 year old QB would yield them all that much?

I mean, the Rams got 3 1sts and a 2nd for the 2nd overall pick in a top-heavy QB draft. What do you think the Giants could realistically get for Eli in the next year or two with all the college QB’s flooding the market? I’m honestly asking, I don’t know what the price would be for him either this or next offseason.

Honestly, I could see Tampa giving them quite a bit. They have a strong overall roster and their WRs are actually really well suited to Eli’s strengths. They’ve also shown with the Revis trade that they’re willing to part with picks for known commodities.

Their roster is strong enough that they could squeak out a few too many wins when it’s all said and done, even if Glennon does play like shit. There’s also one other kind of player that can be basically nowhere but the top of the draft: A true stud WR. If Tampa sees an opportunity to get Eli and someone like Marqise Lee (or even Clowney), I don’t think they’d pass it up.

Honestly, I’m just spitballing. We’ll have to see how draft position and the college season play out before we have any clue how things will turn out. But at the very least NY can always just draft a QB and “Aaron Rodgers” them.

I’m very fond of Eli and think he’s overall been great for the team, but I won’t lie that the prospect of getting Bridgewater is really, really goddamn tempting.

Not that I think the management would do something like that though. the HURR DURR WE DO THINGS THE RIGHT WAY EXCEPT WHEN WE DON’T style owners never make big, audacious picks in the draft. Shit, Eli was probably the most exciting first round pick we’ve had in the last 20 years, and even then we only got him because he didn’t want to go to the Chargers. In reality if we wind up in a position to draft Bridgewater we’ll just trade him to the Jaguars for a center that we wind up trading to Dallas in four years.

I’m with you 100%, man. I was at that game, horrified for 57 minutes that my team was about to get beaten by Tony Romo, and he damn near did it. He was the best quarterback in any game this past week, but he throws one interception and it’s all anyone will talk about. Eli throws three interceptions and has idiots jumping to his defense.

Fuck the narrative, fuck “moar rings,” fuck all that bullshit. It isn’t right.

I just have faith that by the end of the season the evidence will show how stupid people are for the things they’re saying about Romo. There was nothing fluky about that game at all. Hell, the flukiest thing was that the Broncos won. There were some no-calls that went their way, and Peyton threw multiple passes that could have easily been intercepted. Romo’s one interception wasn’t even that bad.

But hey, it’s not like dude got more control of the offense this year and admitted to making a small change to his throwing mechanics, and he’s playing at the highest level of his career or anything, when he was already pretty damn good.

From my seat, without the benefit of TV analysis, I came away feeling that there were a few bad no-calls against the Cowboys, but that every one I saw was on a Cowboys TD drive anyway. (There was barely any other kind of Cowboys drive, after all).

Anyway, I think there’s already a mountain of evidence showing the Romo critics are out of their minds. He’s been pretty consistently one of the best in the league for quite awhile, by all the advanced metrics I’m aware of. The Cowboys’ problem isn’t Romo, it’s pretty much everyone but Romo.

“While I stand by the reporting in my Sept. 18 column about the Washington Redskins nickname controversy, and felt I accurately quoted my father-in-law in the piece, clearly he feels differently. This is an incredibly sensitive issue, and Bob felt he had more to say on the subject after that column was posted on ESPN.com. We’ve spoken and cleared this up. I admire Bob and respect his opinions, and he’s welcome to express them. Bob and I are good and I’m looking forward to my next steak with him.”

How do you misquote your father in law? Wait. How about you do some real fucking reporting, and go outside of your family circle to gather opinion? Nah, what am I saying? You’re RR, and you’re a snotty, second tier writer who douched himself into a cushy job.

well, I suppose if somebody had told me that the Giants would go on two miracle super bowl runs (trolling Patriots nation both times along the way) in exchange for a season where they go 0-6 (and quite possibly worse as the season goes on) and Eli’s play is Gabbert-level putrid, I’d probably take that deal in a second.

the Giants have more than earned every bit of scorn and mockery thrown at them this year. Bring it, bitches!